europe along with uncertainty over whether the debt limit here in the united states will be raised have also made businesses hesitant to invest more aggressively. >> house speaker john boehner was quick to respond. >> i think that i would describe it as dire. and we have three really big problems. we have a spending problem. we have a debt problem. and we have a jobs problem. >> wall street's reaction to all of this a sea of red there. you see the dow down 103 points, and the s&p down as well as the nasdaq. joining me is washington post columnist ezra klein who is also an msnbc contributor, and ezra, thank you for your time, and let's look at the big picture here, because this big number here, you can use the words disappointing and abysmal, and unsettling, and that is not good news for the obama administration, and what do you say? >> i use stronger words than that terrible. it is larger than the obama

administration, because we see that the economy is not recovering. since march, we have added 540,000 people, and that is not a slow recovery, but the opposite of recovery, backsliding. meanwhile, washington is caught in the same narrow arguments, and john boehner says debt and spending. no, we need to focus now on jobs and we need to make that priority number one and not endlessly arguing over the debt ceiling for no reason in the short term anyway. >> and we heard the president say that the uncertainty for the debt limit here in the u.s. to be raised has had an impact, and is that factual? >> no, i don't believe it is. i think that the speaker and the president are using the numbers to fight the short-term agendas. the debt ceiling does not need to be a pressing problem, unless washington makes it one. we could raise it and continue to do reduction on a more modest space. we have created a panic around

the debt ceiling which is a panic to affect the economy because we have chosen to. it is a 100% issue or impediment we have created for the recovery. but in the last month, you have seen businesses making significant decisions based on what they are seeing in the nightly or the afternoon news shows about the debt ceiling argument. >> and ezra, you said backsliding. looking at the numbers of the labor department saying that 25,000 jobs were added in may instead of the 54,000 originally reported, and as for june, employers added 18,000 jobs, and well short of 120,000 more jobs that we were expecting if we are backsliding, then something is not working. so what needs to be implemented here? >> there's a lot that isn't working. there is a lot that we don't cob troll -- control, the european economy and the gas prices, and it is clear that washington needs to do more to support the

recovery and not take it away. we should not raise payroll taxes away when it expires in a couple of months. we should do more to sop up some of the infrastructure needs in the country, and also to get some of the folks from the construction industry back to work. we cannot address some of the things going wrong in the global economy and creating the uncertainty, but they would help and show businesses out there that while washington is engaged, we should pair it with confidence and real world demand to get the businesses to hiring and spending again. >> thank you, ezra klein. thank you very much, and see more of ezra's analysis in an hour on msnbc, because he is filling in for martin bashir, and great to have you on board, ezra, and i will be watching. >> thank you. and now to the historic event that happened here a few hours ago. the shuttle "atlantis roared into space, executing a perfect liftoff one last time. >> two, one, zero, and liftoff!

the final liftoff of "atlantis on the shoulders of the space shuttle "america" will continue the dream. >> space shuttle spreads the wings one more time for the final time into a sentimental journey into history. >> with the threat of bad weather putting the launch in jeopardy, there was a mix of emotion in the liftoff, and exhilaration, and excitement, and they are carrying a year's worth of supplies to the international space station. an estimated 1 million people watched in the areas the shuttle took flight. and space correspondent jay barbary is with me, and he has covered every manned space flight since this whole thing started, and we are now into the my and we have developing news on how long they will be there. >> yes, because everything is going so well, and they have the

cargo bay doors open, and settling in, and they have saved the amount of fuel they needed to going in, and they are going to stay an extra day in space. that means they will be coming home to a sunrise landing, thursday week, 13 days from now. that will be the finality of the shuttle program. >> we want to talk more about that, but i want to get more on this my because they are delivering food, supplies and also planning to bring back some malfunctioning pump i believe. >> yes, and a lot of trash, because that is the one thing they can do is to bring back a lot of trash. they are taking a year's supply to sustain them with food, because most people expect it will be at least a year before that they can send up one of the cargo ships, and maybe space-x will be flying the first commercial ship later in the year, and hopefully set the stage for space-x to take the dragon aircraft and deliver cargo in the neck year. >> and some people have worded

it this way, they will have to hitch a ride from the russians, and put that in perspective of where are we are. i will start it because being competitors, and now here we are needing each other to complete the missions. >> well, you know, when i came here 53 years ago, it was a cold war. >> yes. >> and think were really competitors, but after the flight of the apollo soyuz, and when they docked, that was the start of the true partnership of russia and america. so, with that, with the space station, there'll be, that we will be flying our astronauts to and from the space station on the soyuz. >> at $50 million an astronaut. >> well, it is getting more than that, because what the contract signed to date by nasa, and if the figures are correct, it is close to $750 billion, and they will have to use this for

another four or five years, but they are hoping that the commercial can take over. there is a second space race beginning beginning, tamron, between space-x who thinks they can convert the dragon aircraft to carry astronauts and boeing which has the cst-100 spacecraft, and if these two can deliver the astronauts up there, that will take a lot of pressure off of nasa. >> and quickly before i let you go, you have talked to a lot of people here, and what did this mean today for the folks here? >> well, for the folks who are left, if this contract can be let for what they call the heavy lift, the usls, and if it can be done, it will save a lot of jobs. we are going from 6,700 down to 1,000. i was talking to senator nelson a moment ago and a lot of them

want the contract announced by the end of the wheels down, so he is going to do everything that he can to make sure we get this done to that. >> we will talk about the heavy lift rocket coming up, and congratulations, jay, because you were seamless and beautiful as always, and it is a pleasure to be alongside you. >> you come back and we will do the next one together. >> any time i can be next to you. emotions were high for onlookers of all ages as nasa closed this chapter of the space travel. >> part of me didn't want to come today, because i didn't want it to be over, but it is beautiful. >> it is fantastic, because we were here for the first launch in 1981 when the grandstands had not blown down yet, and it is a nice set of bookends for the first and the last. >> and then the steam comes out, and then the fire comes out, and takes you up to space. >> what a cute reaction, and with me now is nasa's second in

command lori garver, deputy administrator and thank you for joining me. >> thank you for having me. >> and we have this little boy, and he is excite and the enthusiasm about what he witnessed, but then i am reading articles that says that nasa is in shambles and we have no new rocket to launch, and no specific destination select and no means in the near term to get american astronauts into space other than buying a seat which we discussed on the aging russian soyuz spacecraft. what is the future for nasa? >> nasa has a bright, bright few chushgs and we thank the men and women of the space shuttle program who have again shown today their resolve and determination, and unfortunately the decision to end the shuttle program was made in 2004 in the bush administration, and the obama administration, we have added the two last shuttle flights that were not funded by president bush. president obama cares so much about the human space flight program, and we are focused on decreasing the period of otime when we wouldn't have been able to have astronauts launching,

not only from here at the space coast, but on the international space station. the previous program had the international space station going into the pacific ocean in fife year, and we have extended the international space station for ten years, and we are reducing the gap in human space travel from human soil, and not only expanding, but accelerating what will follow, american spaceships with united states flags on them launching right here on the east coast. >> and what is next? there is always a plan, and something on the table, a destination, a vehicle, something that we could wrap our minds around. >> and we have that. the international space station has been our plan, and that is the toe-hold to the future. we have been trying to relive apollo since the '60s and announcing dates and destinations and not meeting them. we need to develop those capabilities so that this nation can afford the fly. we are going to go beyond lower orbit with the space launch system, and the mcvb, the

multipurpose crew. >> the orion. >> yes, and right here from florida. >> but with the orion, you need the heavy lift rockets there, and i want to read something that shuttle director mike linebach had to say to the team. i'm embarrassed without better guidance from washington for the manned space program, and we have always had a program to transfer into it from apollo to gemini, to orbiters. and so if you go through with the heavy lift program, thousands can be employed so why don't we have a date on the rockets that are needed. >> we have dates and destinations. we are building the next generation of vehicles here now at the cape, and we are going to be going beyond lower orbit. unfortunately, i have to disagree that we don't have plans or support in washington. we have bipartisan legislation signed into law last year which supports these vehicles, and we

are going to be utilizing the men and women of the space coast and across the country who have developed the space shuttle program in order to take that next chapter. those, the little boy you spoke of, and i have two boys, and they are going to be part of an unbelievable future for american space. we are the leaders in space. we are going to continue to do that. >> well, obviously, we hope your words ring true and that we hear more specifics on the destinations and the plans and new information on the heavy lift rocket plan if that is to come to be and thank you so much, and congratulations, because the weather was iffy, but it was picture perfect. great day for nasa. much more from kennedy space nation coming up on "newsnation." former senator and astronaut bill nelson will join me live next, and he calls it quote, a human tragedy, that thousands of americans will lose their jobs with the end of the program, but what is ahead? and i will talk to winston scott

who became the second african-american to walk into space from america. and also, virgin galactic wants to make sure that space tourism is a reality. are you willing to go up? and how much would it cost you? virgin's ceo will join me live. first, some shuttle triviaer for you. what are the nicknames for the "atlantis's commander chris ferguson and pilot doug hurley? i love this answer, and we will give it to you after the break. s use magnesium, an ingredient that works more naturally with your colon than stimulant laxatives, for effective relief of constipation without cramps. thanks. good morning, students. today we're gonna continue... we know right from wrong. and we know the ads blaming president obama for the economy are politics at its worst. the republicans have opposed economic reforms at every turn. and now they have a plan that would essentially end medicare for future retirees... slash education... while giving huge tax breaks to big oil and the wealthy.

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♪ if you want to fly ♪ come and take a ride >> and before the break we asked you about the nicknames for the shuttle astronauts, and two of them. commander chris ferguson goes by

the nickname fergie, and pilot doug hurley goes by the nickname chunky. i don't know about that, but we are back heret ta kennedy space center, and i'm joined by former democratic senator astronaut, and then in 1956, he flew on the space shuttle in "columbia" and they were to employ a satellite communications network, and we didn't know that there was a 30% chance it would happen, and thunderstorms and a lightning strike near the shuttle, and it went off, and it was a perfect day. what is your impression of the final launch of "atlantis? >> well, it was emotional launch, and every launch is emotional when you see 700 million pounds of thurust going skyward, but it was emotional because of so many people affected. of course, it is emotional for me every time, and say aprayer

for the crew just before the ignitionings of the engines, and of course, it was a flawless mission. >> e yes, yes, it absolutely wa. let me get an insight on the tone here, and the fans, and the american public, we speak about nasa in presence tense and the future, and when i have watched en interviews with a lot of the workers they look at it as the past tense because they know that the friends and colleagues will lose their job, and the business area around here in central florida, the i-4 k corridor so important with that employment, and 1,000 workers with the shuttle program, and how do you reconcile what is happening here and give people hope? >> well, let me talk about the overall number bes. a year ago we were at 15,000 employees here at the kennedy space center, and mind you another 10,000 right across the banana river at the cape canaveral air force station, but 15,000. we will go down to 8,500, but

that as we build these new rockets that the deputy administrator was explaining, we will go back up to about 10,500. >> when will we build the new rockets? >> well, that is starting right now, and as a matter of fact, we have the funding through the rest of the year for the new blueprint which was the nasa law that we passed last year. but, whenever there is anybody dislocated in a job, you know, that is a tragedy. >> and we know that the unemployment rate has ticked up to 9.2%. and florida is very important in this i-4 corridor especially. in 2004 voted heavily for president bush, and then in 2008 swung president obama's way, and the democrats could be in trouble, and the president could be in trouble as a result of job loss essentially in the central i-4 corridor and what do you tell people who don't believe that the rocket program will get under way and are worried about the jobs? >> well, first of all they will see when nasa announces this new

big rocket, and that ought to come sometime in the next ten days while the space shuttle flight is up there, so that people can see that there's a plan. nasa has already give ten contract for the capsule, and one of the rockets that is going to be going to and from the space station is going to launch this fall. so there's going to be this activity, but, you know, you asked about the president, and basically, what is dragging down potentially the future for the president is the economy overall. if the economy continues to improve albeit in a place like florida, it is going to be very slowly, then i think that people will have a different attitude as long as we have hope. >> and the 9.2% is not a hopeful situation -- >> well, what is more significant in the job figures today was only 18,000 new jobs created nationally.

>> that is far less than the 150,000 that experts wanted. >> that was the real downer. >> yes. >> and that has to turn around. or else -- >> how do we turn this around? >> well, the first thing we have got to do is to balance a budget for the long-term by showing how we can bring down that deficit over the next ten years. and those are the discussions that are going on right now with a lot of the people posturing. the problem is, tamron, when people are too partisan or they are too ideologically rigid, in other words, they say it is my way or the highway. >> and no new taxes or raising taxes are out of the conversation. >> and you have to be as the good book says come to reason together, and build that consensus for the goodf of the country, and turn that economy around. >> senator nelson, thank you for your time and service here as well, and we greatly appreciate it. >> thank you, tamron. joining me now is former

astronaut and retired navy captain winston scott. thank you for joining me. let me talk to you quickly about what you would like to see next from nasa. we heard from senator nelson and so beautifully put that there is hope ahead, and the nasa adminirators are saying the same thing, but what would you like to see next? >> well, certainly being a astronaut as opposed to a politician or a financial person, i'd like to see all of these things happen sooner rather than later. it never goes as fast as us astronauts would like to see it happen, but i agree that the future is right. the commercial companies are going to step up to do their part in providing access for crew and cargo to the lower orbit. i would like to see nasa building space shshships to go space, and doing the esoteric

things that need to be done, and coming behind to make space flight affordable to private individuals and companies. that is what i would like to see, sooner rather than later. >> it is interesting, because i want to bring up the apollo astronauts gene cernan and others who said they were not happy about the cancellation of the constellation program by the bush administration, and what is your thoughts of the space program now? >> well, i am one of the people who are concerned about the direction we are going with. i agree with jim that i would have liked to have seen the shuttles flying, at least some minimal number of flights and keep the constellation going, and retire the shuttles after the constellation was in place. but i agree that we are not going along as focused quick as manner i would have liked to have seen us go, but again, i'm trying to be optimistic about it and believing that the desire to

be leaders in the space exploration will maintain and that will again pick up where we left off and maintain that lead in space. >> well, captain scott, a great pressure havile pleasure to have you on and great opportunity to share a sandwich downstairs and thank you for coming on. thank you, sir. >> well, the pleasure is mine. thank you for having me here. >> absolutely. i will talk to the ceo of virgin galactic who says he wants to transform humanity's relationship with the cosmos through space tourism. would you be interested in a ride? and plus, may jemison, the first african-american woman to travel to space will join me live. and here is another trivia question, just how much does the space shuttle "atlantis weigh? that is tough. the answer is in three minutes. [ male announcer ] if you think "heroes" are only in movies,

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♪ i'm a spacebound

♪ flight to the moon >> we are back with the answer to the shuttle trivia question. "atlantis is the lightest of the shuttles weighing 151,315 pounds, but that is just the empty weight. once the main engines are attached, "atlantis clocks in at 171,000 pounds. we will be right back and coming up from kennedy space center -- >> these solid rocket boosters are shipped here in four segments and put together here in the field. >> nbc's veteran space correspondent jay barbree has covered every single manned flight since 1958. what is next for jay? he is going to join me next live. but first, here is another shuttle trivia question for you. what was significant about the "atlantis mission on june 29th, 1995? we are going to tell you when we come back, and you can tweet me your answer, if you have got one. ♪ ugh, my feet are killin' me. well, we're here to get you custom orthotic inserts.

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we are back with the answer to our trivia question, and we ask what was special about the "atlantis flight on june 29th, 1995? well, that flight was not only the 100th manned u.s. space launch, but it was also the first time a shuttle docked with the russian space station mir and this is the image created from that moment, and by the way, none of you tweeted me the right answer to that. and we are back here at the kennedy space center where we watched "atlantis blast into space. and from the first shuttle launch in 1981, the u.s. launched the first woman and african-american into space, and if it weren't for the shuttles, the international space station would not exist. the shuttles also enabled the hubbel telescope to reach

further into the universe to send back amazing images for all of us. space correspondent jay barbree is back with us. starting off with the hubbel telescope, and "atlantis had five repairs and involved greatly to getting the telescope to where it needed to be, but people ask this question a lot, how has nasa or the shuttle program improved our lives. how has it improved the united states? >> do you love gps? >> i do. >> and do you like the tweet? >> yes. >> it does allel of that. and what most people don't realize is if we had not gone to the moon and had there not been a space program, we would be 50 years behind in science as we are today. because, when they decided to go to the moon, kennedy did for in a decade, they had to invent the transistor, and it was a vacuum tube, and we had to do all of this. and the first spacecraft mercury, didn't have a computer. no. did not have.

>> yes. >> and gordo cooper on the last one, they stretched it out to 22 orbits, and he had to dead stick fly it home, and he was so good, that he landed as close to the recovery ship as did the other guys with the automatic pilot that was on it. you see. so anyway, also, in your laptop that you are using today. >> yes. >> you have got probably 100 times the computation in that computer as they had on the "apollo" spacecraft. >> if all of this is true, why so difficult for nasa to get support, and we know that congresswoman gabrielle giffords was so supportive of the state she did not live, but her husband worked to get dollars that nasa needed. and why so important to get to a dollars we need to move ahead? >> well, a lot of people think that we haven't had as much support as we had in the beginning which is for getting

"apollo" going, and they did. when you go back to what a dollar equals to the dollar today, we have much more support, but nasa's budget has remained consistent. they say for example like, well, they had to cancel the shuttle program, because they didn't have the budget. well, the budget that's already approved by congress is bigger than it was last year. >> yes. >> and we are talking about $18 billion going back to $16 billion. they have the money there, but the problem is what do you spend it on. >> the direction, and the direction and we are hearing that over and over again and we are looking at what i don't say old video, but vintage video of you over time covering all of the manned space launches. let me ask you, do you have a single memory that stands out that is a positive memory of what has happened over the last 30 years? >> well, you know, tamron, i think that the memory with allan shepherd, but i'm often asked this, probably not only of covering the flight, the warmest

thing to me and the largest compliment to me personally was allan shepherd asking me to help him write his book "moon shot." and "moon shot" went to number three on the new york times best seller list, and it was printed in eight countries. and the fact that i was able to work on that book with allan shepherd, our first in space was great, great honor. >> it was, and congratulations and again, thank you for coming up with us, and the question as you heard jay mentioned is what is next for nasa and the american manned space flight, and joining me to talk about that is nbc news correspondent tom costello, and we are hearing people talk about orion over and over and explain orion and is that part of the scrapped constellation program? >> yeah. well, it is. the orion is the space capsule that will carry people into space eventually.

the trouble is that for most of us to understand this, we have to break it down into two categories. going forward, nasa has two approaches, a low-earth orbit destination which is the space station, and a long destination, if the you will, that require heavy rockets which could be mars or asteroid or the moon. and at the moment, the plan to go to low-earth orbit is to turn it over to commercial venders and in other words, hiring a taxi service. they are still arguing over who that could be or competing over who it could be, and could be spacex or boeing, and there are a number of players there who say they can get astronauts to the space station within three or four or five years. that is the first part of the problem, and the second part is the long gain here. and to do that, we need a heavy lift capability. we are talking about rockets as big as the old saturn 5 rockets in the "apollo" days and bigger. that is going back to the constellation program that

president bush envisioned, dichd originally under president obama, and seconds ago i talked to the associate administrator of nasa saying they will announce in a couple of weeks who they will be using on a he i have lift program. it will likely be the ornligina design or a version of that over the past few years, but they wanted to go back to the drawing board to make sure that these are the programs that make the most sense. >> and tom, before i let you go, we have to ask you about an opportunity that you had. you traveled to houston, and we had you, and we have video of you in the simulator with the crew who just went up earlier today. what was that experience like as we are still fascinated with the training of these astronauts and what their bodies endure. >> yeah. it was a great opportunity. i was in houston to interview the final crew of "atlantis, and after we did the interview, commander chris ferguson said, hey, would you like to go into the simulator with me?

and this is the training simulator they use to train the astronauts, so from the sim you layer to the real thing. i sat in the pilot's seat, and i kept my hands to myself and didn't push any buttons, but we rocked the thing backwards and laying on the back to look up, andp then they go through a simulated launch. it was a great experience and great opportunity to see what they go through and to talk to him about it. i must say, tamron, the highlight of my day aside from working with you and jay and also watching this spectacular launch was interviewing a very, very famous character who had some great deep insight into nasa today. elmo was here at the kennedy space center, and that is on the web. so you have to check that out. me and elmo. it was great. good tv. >> well, one-on-one exclusive with elmo online. i cannot wait to see it. tom costello, thank you very much, and it was a greatanchori you. and by the way beside me is dr.

jamison who was the first african-american woman in space. and let me get your thoughts on the end of the shuttle program. >> well, the first thing that comes to mind is that you are saying good-bye to something comfortable that you knew and that was a wonderful vehicle, and it is sad. at the same time, we really are looking forward to getting out of the lower earth orbit, and we are still in space and still have humans going up, and the united states is still the major partner this, and now let's do something else, and do what i would have loved to have done. i was a little kid watching the "apollo" program and i thought we would have gone to mars by now, and let's do that. >> and those are the obama goals to get to a close asteroid or to mars, and again, it is many years away and a lot of decent, and some of the articles have described it as disarray happening with the space program. >> well, it is not disarray, but people are nervous. i would love for us to make a commitment to do it in a shorter

period of time. i mean, it took us ten years to go to the moon when we didn't know anything about going to another planetary body, and didn't know anything about humans in space, and perhaps we could do it in a shorter period of time, but i think that the issue is really our commitment as a society to space exploration to what pushes us forward to define us. >> do you believe that we are no longer as committed as we once were? >> i think that we are committed to space exploration, but as long as we have a project going on, it is okay, and we are doing more, but we are not committed, because we back off of the big things sometimes, because we don't want to lose it. it is not just space, but in a lot of areas, but we need the energy to say, we will do this as a nation. >> absolutely, and even i think about how we tie it into education for example with the math and the science scores underperforming and these are the tools to turn you into a great historic astronaut as yourself. i have read every bio imaginable, and in each of the astronauts talking about seeing that moment in a science class

or television and having the wherewithal to want it and to pursue it. what is needed out there to produce young african-american girls like yourself to see this dream and turn it into a real y reality? what do you focus on? >> i want to take it out of the framework of being an astronaut, yes, that is great, but the wonderful men and women who get us up there, and the incredible people who designed the shuttle and put it together, and the tile, and my suit tech who was a woman with a high school degree dressed the srt pilots, and there are all kinds of roles for the people to be involved. what we have to do is to change the imagery that we as adults have to make a difference and commit to education. we have to also commit to funding programming that push us in research and not just always say, well, it is not good right now. >> well, great words. thank you very much, and it is a great pleasure to have you on in studio with us. thank you. and also, why richard branson says that one day

commercial space travel will be as routine as taking an overseas flight. you buy that? but first, our next piece of shuttle trivia. who was the first american woman to fly in space? we have the answer when we return. ♪ you are so supersonic does . new citracal slow release... continuously releases calcium plus d for the efficient absorption my body needs. citracal. how'd you learn to do that? what'd you use? every project we finish comes with a story built-in. it's how our rough ideas become "you did that yourself?" so when we can save more

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to go into orbit one day? it is that kind of sentiment which sir richard branson the founder of virgin galactic is betting on. the billionaire investors is willing to take the tourist to the stratosphere for $200,000. and we have the ceo of virgin galactic with us. and thank you for being with us, george. and we hear that the price of this trip will drop to $200,000. and that is amazing. >> we feel that we can dramatically open up the space flight, and we know we have to get the price down, but we start here. >> and where are you on the process, because there are 80,000 people on the waiting list to go, but go when? >> i would say soon, 18 months. we are flying right now already with the vehicles and so, next year, we are going to start to go to space, and after that, we will start to take people. >> and the definition of space is part of the tricky point here.

we are talking about the lower earth. >> yeah. so, that the boundary in space is basically 100 kilometers high, and we are going up to 110 kilometers and it is a short trip, but you have to skeep in mind that the russians are charging nasa $60 million to go in space. >> but far further than you would go up on your trip. >> a different thing, but here issing? that we can do now to open up the space here and early tickets on the transatlantic plane were $80,000 to start off, and now you can go for $500, but you can start somewhere and here swr we start. >> set-up question, is the future of the space technology and the missions rests in the hands of the private sector as the president believes? >> it has to be a partnership, and the president does, too. what the president has said is let's try to look at where the private sector can take the lead so that nasa and other agencies can focus on what they are good at which is tex plor ration part. i absolutely believe in a time

of constrained resources, that is the strategy. >> and what about getting money from nasa's budget so it is not exclusive funds from the private sector? >> yeah. i mean, what private sector can bring is primarily innovation, and in both safety, cost and speed. that is what we have seen in every other sector of the economy. you look at i.t. or any of these things, and you will get dramatic increases or decreases in cost. we haven't seen that in space. the cost of space has not gone down at all, and if anything, it has gone up. >> it is to be $7 million a weekly flight, and now it is $500 billion for one launch. >> right. >> and that is the kind of stuff that we can bring to the picture. >> when will we see the first batch of six passengers? >> well, early 2012 or early 2013. >> i hope i am on there. it is a great pleasure, and thank you again. today in the "newsnation" gut check, the debate over private and public funding for the u.s.

space program, and we will tell you how you can weigh in on the conversation. before we go to the final shuttle trivia question, who were the first crew members on the first shuttle flight? the answer in three minutes. ♪ if you believe they put a man on the moon man on the moon ♪ . plus vitamin d to help maintain healthy blood pressure. [ bat cracks ] that's a hit. one a day men's. purina cat chow helps you well-being. we're all striving for it. nurture it in your cat with a full family of excellent nutrition and helpful resources. purina cat chow. share a better life.

martin bashir is next only on msnbc. ♪ ♪ embrace the martian >> so before we went to break, we asked you who werer the crew members othe first space shuttle flight? the answer, commander john young, and pilot robert crippen and i met him today, and they were aboard when it launched into space april 1981. and it was commander young who said that this was proof of what americans were able to do. and the space shuttle inspired "newsnation" gut check today as we have been saying all hour the successful launch of "atlantis marks the end of nasa's 30-year

shuttle program, but the end of the program is signaling the start of a tug of war over the future of space exploration and how it is paid for. many in washington are pushing for space travel to be turned over to the private sector, and billions of dollars are set to be redirected to private companies to explore deep space, but skeptics point out, it is going to take several years before the private sector can build a craft capable of sending u.s. astronauts to the international space station. in the meantime, our international space travelers will have to hitch a ride on the russian spacecraft soyuz, and last year, it accounted for the world's total of $87 billion spent on space exploration, and 74% coming just from the u.s. while nasa and the white house look to reduce the government's budget, existing and potential rivals like russia, china and india and the uk are increasing spending on space travel, so what does the gut tell you? should the u.s. space program be

funded by taxpayers or private industries? go to "newsnation."msnbc.com to launch your vote. thank you so much for joining us, and it has been a pleasure to be here all day long if you will to be your eyes on the journey. i'm tamron hall, and remember to catch "newsnation" every weekday at 2:00 p.m. on msnbc. ezra klein is in for martin bashir, and he is up next. time for the "your business" en prepreneur of the week. mark and jennifer were riding through france when they had a great meal and discovered it was due to a special salt they used. they brought it back and sold it in the portland store, the med doech -- meadow, and news spread, and now they have launched more stores across the country.

they said i couldn't get elected to congress. but i did. ♪ sometimes when we touch ha ha! millions of hits! [ male announcer ] flick, stack, and move between active apps seamlessly. only on the new hp touchpad with webos. new newtons fruit thins. real cranberries and delicious cranberry citrus oat... ♪ or real blueberries... ♪ ...and luscious blueberry brown sugar. the goodness of whole grains... and a thin crispy crunch. new newtons fruit thins, one unique cookie. new newtons fruit thins, every day you live with the pain of moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis could be another day you're living with joint damage.

help stop the damage before it stops you by asking your rheumatologist about humira. for many adult patients with moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis humira has been proven to help relieve pain and stop joint damage. humira's use in patients with ra has been evaluated in multiple studies during the past 14 years. humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal events can occur such as, infections, lymphoma or other types of cancer, blood, liver and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. before starting humira, your doctor should test you for tb. ask your doctor if you live or have been to a region where certain fungal infections are common. tell your doctor if you have had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have symptoms such as

fever, fatigue, cough, or sores. you should not start humira if you have any kind of infection. make today the day you talk to your rheumatologist. and ask how you can defend against and help stop further joint damage with humira. good afternoon, i'm ezra klein sitting in for martin bashir. here is what is making news today. the employment crisis shows no longer a recovery, but backsliding into a recession and washington may push us off of the cliff. what's the game plan? politicians may have given up on solutions, but we haven't. we will lay out exactly what needs to be done to get this economy back on track. and what about wall street?

as millions struggle just to get by, executive paydays and power are reaching all-time highs. that has to be nice. today's jobs report was a reminder and one that we shouldn't have needed, that we are not in a slow recovery, and instead, mired in a year's long economic emergency. president obama offered his perspective in the rose garden this morning. >> our economy as a whole just isn't producing nearly enough jobs for everybody who's looking. the economic challenges that we face weren't created overnight, and they are not going to be solved overnight. the american people sent us here to do the right thing and not for party, but for country. so, were going to work together to get things done on their behalf. >> and those republicans who usually cannot agree with the president on anything, actually sort of agree on this.